A Fool's Reality
by FishtheMighty
Summary: A woman wakes up in a train station without any memory.  As her journey continues, time, reality, and the truth begin to slip away from her.
1. Chapter 1

The metal on metal scraping sound of the train awakened the woman from her sleep. She opened her eyes and peeled her cheek away from the cold stone bench she was lounging on. The pounding from the train seemed to run up her spine causing her to shudder. The train finally came to a squealing halt and she forced herself on her feet and dragged herself to the iron beast. The environment around her was a odd combination of familiar and unknown. While the atmosphere seemed to strike something close to resemblance in her; the shadows, the lighting, and the tone confused her.

Stumbling on to the train and collapsing on one of the cheap faux leather seats. The woman stared out the window. The snow pounded against the window as she proceeded to let the train take her anywhere, she didn't matter where. The train moved swiftly through the night as she tried to remember where she was, how did she get there, and most importantly; who she was. She examined the other passengers on the train, hoping they would help her remember. Nothing. There weren't that many people on the train anyway.

She dug through her pockets at an attempt to jog her memory. Maybe there was an ID, or a drivers' licence or something. Nothing. Just a pen cap, a piece of yarn, and a few coins. Wait! She thought. Maybe the type of coin can help me figure out where I am! She dug the coin out of her pocket and examined it. The design was faded, so it was difficult to make out what was on it, but she noticed something; Cyrillic. Am I in Russia? She thought. No. There were plenty of other countries that used the Ruble. She placed the coin back into her pocket and leaned against the window.

The more she looked around, the more she began to believe she was somewhere in Eastern Europe. The snow was really heavy even though, according to the calender, it was only March. And the language she heard the other passengers speaking, even though it sounded familiar, she knew it wasn't Russian, she could tell.

"Your ticket, ma'am." She straightened up in her seat when she heard a voice,

"Uh...what?" It felt weird to speak, like an old clock finally being used after years of inactivity. Her voice creaked as the words left her lips,

"Your ticket," the man repeated, "do you have it?"

She dug through her pocket frantically searching for a ticket, but came out empty handed,

"I'm afraid I don't have one."

The man was silent for a moment, then spoke,

"Ma'am I'm going to have to ask you to exit the train."

"I...what?"

"Ma'am, you're going to have to get off the train."

"Please," she begged, "it's snowing outside and I hardly have any money."

"If I let you get on for free, I would have to give everyone the same privilege. Now please, move along."

She looked around the train for some support; nothing. With a defeated sigh, she got up off of her seat, and slowly exited the train as it came to a sudden stop. And she stood there, blistering cold winds whipping her body as the iron beast proceeded to drift through the icy, cold night.

And she stood there. The winds practically petrified her in her spot. She was alone. She was alone with no memory of anything about herself, not even her name.

She examined her appearance. Her hair was rather long and blonde; almost silver. She was decked in a long, ankle-length, slightly worn out purple skirt with a just as ragged purple sweater. She had black gloves on her hands and even though she was dressed for winter, it wasn't enough to shelter her from the intense weather.

Something caught the corner of her eye; a small child running. The little girl darted onto the train tracks, platinum blonde hair trailed behind her. A dark blue dress swirled around her, carrying her through the wind. The woman's eyes widened when she saw the girl just standing there on the tracks,

"Get out of the way!" she wanted to shout, but her voice didn't work. Only a few raspy coughs came out of her mouth. The clanking sound of the train filled the air, but the girl didn't budge.

The girl turned around, looked her straight in the eye, and at that moment, an eerie feeling filled the woman's senses. A feeling of recognition, deja vu even. That moment didn't last long. The train darted forward, swallowing up the space between it an the girl, until only the train could be seen.

No scream. No sound of the girl getting hit. Nothing.

The train eventually moved away and the woman covered her eyes, afraid of the remains the train might have left behind.

Peeking through her index finger, she was shocked to find hardly any remains left on the track. No blood, no corpse.

The woman was not left with the feeling of fear and confusion, but awe and nostalgia. When her feet seemed to finally move again, she swiftly turned around, and proceeded onwards.

...

Each step sent pain darting up her leg. Each raspy breath brought icy air into her lungs, causing her to cough. Tears were frozen against her face as she kept fighting the harsh winds. Her mind was racing with thoughts of memories, train tickets, and the distance between that little girl and the train.

She saw a light in the distance, barely scraping the horizon. Enthusiasm finally striking her, she ran forwards, slipping a few times on the icy path.

Her breath came out in short, raspy gasps, and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth but she kept running, in a way it seemed that not only was she running towards that light; but towards her answers too.

The source of the light became clearer and clearer as she came closer; a house. A rather small house. A black tarp, held in place by rocks, was draped over what the woman could only guess was a garden.

She approached the mahogany coloured door, and after a few knocks, collapsed on the floor in front of it. Right before she passed out, she noticed the door open, the scent of cinnamon, and a figure leaning closer and picking her up.

...


	2. Chapter 2

Icy blue eyes slowly drifted open. The woman shifted and brought the forest green, wool blanket closer around her shivering, pale frame. The scent of cinnamon lingered in the air, a fire was roasting in the fireplace. Her silvery blonde hair was tangled and soot filled. Her left foot was badly bruised and on the verge of becoming frostbit. Her heaving joined the crackling from the fire place, then was joined by the sound of footsteps.

She didn't even bother to look where the footsteps were coming from. Either she didn't notice them or she just didn't care. It could be a friend or the Angel of Death and she wouldn't mind either way. She would feel perfectly at ease. The footsteps came to a halt, then darted forward, bringing her into a strong embrace.

"Thank God you're alive! I thought I lost you for good!" his embrace burned against her freezing cold body.

"Er..." was all she managed to choke out. Part of her wanted to push him away, but the other part wanted to return the gesture of affection, she felt like she had been alone for too long. But the stranger pulled away from the embrace allowing her to see what her "captor" looked like.

His mop of wavy brown hait covered his eyes until he pushed his bangs away. A light spray of frecklestraced his features, and he spoke with an eastern European accent whose origin she had yet to figure out.

"Have we met before?" she choked out again, her stern steel blue orbs met his now surprised emerald ones.

"You don't re...well I guess that makes sense after..." his voice trailed off, his eyes and tone became more serious.

"Um...sir..." she stuttered,

"Toris Lorinaitis." he held out his hand. She took his hand reluctantly. Thoughts of kidnappers, murderers, and molesters raced through her mind, her brain telling her to run away.

"Listen, this is going to sound weird but," she let go of his hand, "I don't remember who I am."

"Trust me that makes perfect sense. Your name is Natalia Arlovskya. You're 19 years old, same age as me, born in Minsk, Belarus, August 25."

"Um...who are you?" she asked.

"To-"

"Not your name. I mean...who are you? How do you know so much about me?"

"I was your older brother's servant and also..." his voice trailed off again."

"Yeah?"

"You...were my girlfriend. Before the accident."

"What accident?"

"Car accident."

"Sure it wasn't a train?"

"...what?"

"Never mind."

"Oh." he smiled, "you can stay in my bed. Don't worry, I'll sleep on the couch."

Natalia nodded and pulled the blanket further on her shoulders, "uh Toris...what's the date today?"

"March 17th. Hopefully the weather will start clearing up as the month goes on." Toris got up and opened a window. The sun shone through the window causing Natalia to blink to get used to the sudden exposure to the rays. "Hey look, the sun came up."

Natalia tried to move to her feet, her legs wobbling to gain balance, before almost tumbling to the ground. Toris quickly ran to her side and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, keeping her up,

"You might want to wait before you start moving again. So while we wait for your legs to regain strength, we can talk."

"About what?" Toris brought Natalia down, bringing her into a sitting position,

"Well, I can help you get your memory back. First off, what is the last thing you remember?"

Natalia shut her eyes, "A train station."

"Yes, do you remember anything about the train station? The passengers? The signs?"

"The signs were in Cyrillic, but it wasn't Russian..."

"Was it...Belarusian?" Natalia thought for a moment,

"Yeah, I think it was."

"Did you see anything in Lithuanian?"

"I don't remember." Torisleft for a moment, and came back with a newspaper,

"Anything that looked like this." he handed the paper to Natalia. She examined the words, the pictures, then looked back at Toris,

"No."

"So you were in a station in Belarus?" Toris chuckled,

"What's so funny?" She glared at him, Toris shook his head,

"Nothing, but you must have had to walk a long way to end up here."

"What do you mean?"

"You're in Lithuania now. You must have walked a long distance to end up in another country."

"I took the train for a while, but I didn't have a ticket, so I had to get off,"

"So you're remembering." he smiled and ran a finger through her hair,

"Yes," she stared at the finger, and Toris quickly removed it,

"Sorry." he gave an apologetic smile, "Do you remember anything else?"

Natalia was silent. Her eyes darted from the carpet, to Toris' eyes, then back to the carpet,

"Toris...have you seen a little girl around here? Long blonde hair, blue dress, maybe about seven years old?"

Toris frowned, "Doesn't ring a bell. I pretty much know everyone here, but...when did you see her?"

"When I got off of the train, I saw a little girl run onto the tracks. She stared at me for a moment, then the train...I'm sorry, I probably sound crazy to you."

"Don't worry about it," he moved in closer to her, "Then what happened?"

"The train came and hit her, but the strange thing is, there was no blood, scream, or any sound of her getting hit, it's like...she wasn't even there...Oh my God I am going crazy!"

"No you aren't." He rested his head against her shoulder, "I'm just glad you're okay."

Natalia blushed, but tried not to look at Toris. She instead stared out the window. The light reflecting off of the snow almost seemed to blind her. Torissighed, and got up, moving the blanket further on her shoulders once he got to his feet,

"I have to go to work, I'll see you sometime this evening. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Work?" Natalia raised an eyebrow as Toris moved to the door, removing a green army coat from the hook and putting it on,

"Yeah, I still work at your brother's house. I don't have to work there 24 hours like I used to, but I still have to be there. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can I meet my brother?"

Toris forced the door open, shuddering at the cold, "I don't think that would be a good idea. Anyway, I'll see you when I get back, make sure to keep warm and help yourself to anything in the fridge. I'll make dinner when I get back." he smiled, and shut the door.

...

Natalia sat on the soft covers, the urge to snoop around practically eating her alive. She pressed her head against the pillow and curled up into a ball to protect herself from the cold. Her eyes felt heavy, her breathing slowed, and sleep eventually took over.

_It's cold. Natalia brings her knees to her chest. Her frayed purple garment she was wearing gone. She was instead wearing a navy blue dress with a pristine white apron. She had to be in her late teens. Tears froze against her cheeks, harsh winds plastered her to the stone wall. A shadow in the distance. Her chest heaved. The shadow was mocking her. Her feet slid against the stone path, which turned to dirt as the weeks went on, "But the shadow only seemed to be a few blocks away," she thought, "why is it taking me weeks to get there?" She tripped._

_Rubbing her aching knee, she turned around, sobbing. She only saw green, army green to be precise. She crawled towards the obstacle,_

_Decaying lips split open and Natalia stifled a scream. Bloodshot eyes seemed to be bursting from the skull. A hand moved up, black, chipped fingernails reaching out to her. She let out a scream, and ran, tripping multiple times as she did so. A forest is ahead. Good. She looked back, the form becoming smaller as she continued running. The trees, along with everything else, became taller as she continuedHer hands became smaller, her steps became weaker. Her deep blue dress was replaced with a burgundy fur coat._

_The forest came to an end. A small cottage came into sight. Her eyes widened; home. She ran forward, arms flapping through the cold air as her tiny feet carried her to her destination. She pounded on the door, but the sound came out as a tiny pat due to her lack of strengthth. The door opened and a woman stood over her. Blonde hair, with specks of grey, was pulled back into a bun. She was wearing a patched up brown dress with a frayed black apron. Her eyes widened at the sight of her, and she knelt down bringing Natalia into a hug. Natalia cried and clung to her mother who was patting her head and rubbing her back._

_A sound was heard in the distance; her mother stiffened. "What's going on?" Natalia wanted to ask, but her mother forced her inside. Natalia watched as her mother shut the door with a slam. Natalia got to her feet and darted into their bedroom, hiding under the small bed._

_The door opened with a slam. Heavy foot steps fell in sync with the beating of Natalia's heart. Her hand clasped over her mouth. Mom? Brother? Sister? She silently sobbed. The kitchen door fell open with a slam, Natalia clung to the blue carpet below her. The bedroom door came open. A sword poked under the bed, nudging her foot. Natalia scampered away, out from under the bed. Two men noticed her, one unsheathing his sword, the other pointing the sword he already unsheathed at her. Natalia pressed her back against the wall. Her head turned to look for an escape; the window. _

_She moved slowly and sluggish against the wall, before opening the shutters and forcing her tiny frame out the window and running as fast as her feet could carry her. The sound of unsheathing swords filled the air, she looked back. Her mother was lying there, her eyes seeing but not looking. Natalia sobbed again, but kept running. The forest was in plain sight. A perfect hiding place, but what about that figure? Natalia stopped dead in her tracks. Footsteps in the snow came closer._

_"Move you idiot!" she ordered herself, but she didn't budge. She turned around; they were right behind her. Natalia fell to her knees and began sobbing. One man grabbed her cheeks, another pulled a small, glass bottle from his coat pocket. The mouth of the bottle was pressed against her chapped lips. The liquid burned as it slid down her throat. She coughed, they left. Memories of her home, her mother, and everything her mother taught her began to drift away. She forced herself into a standing position, and dragged herself into the forest. The trees became even taller as she stumbled in, until she couldn't walk any more. She curled up in a white blanket that replaced her coat and stared at the canopy of the trees. A sound of crackling leaves came closer, until a frame was standing above her. He was only about four, but he picked her up in his tiny arms and carried her away. _

...

This was written while I was bored in science class. So I had no spell check. I think I failed.


End file.
